Planning for Their Future

SSI and Medicaid shape almost every decision in a special needs plan, yet most families only understand them in pieces. You've heard about the $2,000 limit. You've heard not to leave money to your child directly. Nobody has explained how it all actually works.

In this episode, Reggie walks through both programs in plain English, with 2026 figures: what counts toward the limit, how work and living at home affect the SSI check, a 2024 rule change many families haven't heard about, and why Medicaid often matters more than the check itself. Plus, a Massachusetts program many higher-income families don't know their child may qualify for.

In this episode:
→ The difference between SSI and Medicaid, and why Medicaid is often the bigger deal
→ What counts toward the $2,000 resource limit, what doesn't, and the back-pay window
→ How a part-time job affects SSI, with a worked example
→ Living at home after 18: the shelter rule, and the fair-share rental agreement
→ The September 2024 change: food no longer reduces SSI
→ MassHealth CommonHealth: coverage for children and adults with disabilities, with no income or asset limit
→ Medicaid waivers, waiting lists, and keeping Medicaid while working

Free: The Lifetime Care Plan Workbook
The benefit rules page explains SSI and Medicaid in plain English, and the benefits tracker keeps every renewal date in one place.
The plan most families never get around to writing down, broken into steps you can finish one evening at a time. 55 fillable pages built on the Six P's. Type right into it or print it. By the end, you'll have a written picture of your loved one's future, a cost range, a checked set of beneficiary forms, named backups for every role, and a letter of intent someone else could actually use.
Download it free: https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Benefit rules and figures change, often every January, and some rules vary by state. Confirm current figures at ssa.gov and with your state Medicaid agency. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

Every lifetime care plan starts going out of date the moment it's finished. Your loved one grows. You get older. Siblings grow up, caregivers move, and benefit rules change. None of that means the plan failed. It means the plan needs a way to keep up.

In this episode, Reggie walks through Practice, the last of the Six P's: building a review rhythm that keeps the other five pieces current, and why the real test of a plan is whether it still works after both parents are gone.

In this episode:
→ Why families skip reviews, even when they care deeply about the plan
→ Scheduled reviews versus reviews triggered by a change in your family
→ The milestone birthdays that deserve their own review
→ The "second death," and how all six pieces work together to meet it

Free: The Lifetime Care Plan Workbook
The Practice pages give you a yearly review checklist, a list of life events that should trigger a review, and a log that shows your plan is current.
The plan most families never get around to writing down, broken into steps you can finish one evening at a time. 55 fillable pages built on the Six P's. Type right into it or print it. By the end, you'll have a written picture of your loved one's future, a cost range, a checked set of beneficiary forms, named backups for every role, and a letter of intent someone else could actually use.
Download it free: https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

A trust can tell someone how to manage money. It can't tell them what makes your child feel safe, what a hard day looks like, or how they show that something's wrong. Right now, that knowledge probably lives in one place: you.

In this episode, Reggie walks through Preserve, the fifth of the Six P's: capturing what you know about your loved one in a letter of intent.

In this episode:
→ What a letter of intent is, and what it isn't
→ The six areas worth writing down first, from daily routines to communication
→ How to start without it becoming overwhelming
→ What Sarah Johnson realized she had never said out loud, even to her husband

Free: The Lifetime Care Plan Workbook
The letter of intent pages walk you through writing down what only you know, one page at a time.
The plan most families never get around to writing down, broken into steps you can finish one evening at a time. 55 fillable pages built on the Six P's. Type right into it or print it. By the end, you'll have a written picture of your loved one's future, a cost range, a checked set of beneficiary forms, named backups for every role, and a letter of intent someone else could actually use.
Download it free: https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

A perfectly drafted trust can't answer the question that matters most: who actually shows up? Not a name on a form. A person who has said yes and understands what they're agreeing to.

In this episode, Reggie walks through People, the fourth of the Six P's: naming who handles each part of the job, with a backup for every role.

In this episode:
→ The roles every plan needs, and why they don't all belong to the same person
→ What changes when your child turns 18
→ Siblings, professional trustees, and when a mix of family and professional help works best
→ How to have the conversation that turns a name on a form into a real yes

Free: The Lifetime Care Plan Workbook
The roles worksheet makes sure every job in your plan has a name, a backup, and a real yes.
The plan most families never get around to writing down, broken into steps you can finish one evening at a time. 55 fillable pages built on the Six P's. Type right into it or print it. By the end, you'll have a written picture of your loved one's future, a cost range, a checked set of beneficiary forms, named backups for every role, and a letter of intent someone else could actually use.
Download it free: https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

Having money set aside for your loved one isn't the same as having it set up correctly. A gift from a grandparent, an inheritance, or a life insurance payout meant to help can end up costing them the benefits they depend on.

In this episode, Reggie walks through Protect, the third of the Six P's: making sure every dollar meant for your loved one has a safe path to reach them.

In this episode:
→ How SSI's $2,000 resource limit works, and why it matters so much
→ Third-party versus first-party special needs trusts
→ ABLE accounts and what to watch for with retirement accounts
→ The one line on a form that could have undone years of the Johnsons' planning

Free: The Lifetime Care Plan Workbook
The beneficiary audit on page 27 takes about 20 minutes and catches the mistake the Johnsons almost made.
The plan most families never get around to writing down, broken into steps you can finish one evening at a time. 55 fillable pages built on the Six P's. Type right into it or print it. By the end, you'll have a written picture of your loved one's future, a cost range, a checked set of beneficiary forms, named backups for every role, and a letter of intent someone else could actually use.
Download it free: https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Benefit rules and figures change, and some vary by state. Consult a qualified special needs attorney about your situation. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

Nobody can give you an exact figure for a life that may run fifty or sixty more years. But you can understand the real size of the commitment, and the gap between what it will cost and what's already going to cover part of it.

In this episode, Reggie walks through Price, the second of the Six P's: turning the picture of your loved one's life into an honest cost range.

In this episode:
→ Why chasing a precise number is a mistake, and why a range tells you more
→ The cost categories every family should plan for, including the ones most families forget
→ How to handle what you can't know yet
→ What surprised the Johnsons most when they added it all up

Free Lifetime Care Plan workbook
Includes a future cost worksheet, a resources inventory, and a rough funding gap calculation.
https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

Most families start planning by asking how much they need to save. It's a fair question, and it's the wrong place to start. If nobody knows what the money is for, everyone is guessing.

In this episode, Reggie walks through Picture, the first of the Six P's: defining the life you're actually planning for before any conversation about trusts or investments.

In this episode:
→ Why two families with the same amount saved can end up in completely different places
→ Where your loved one will live, and why today's living situation isn't the plan
→ What a good day looks like, the relationships worth protecting, and what gives them purpose
→ What the Johnsons learned about Mia once someone asked the right questions

Free Lifetime Care Plan workbook
The Picture worksheets walk you through all of this, step by step.
https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.

Episode 1: Who Knows My Child?

You know what your child eats, what calms them down, which doctor they trust, and how they tell you something hurts. Right now, most of that lives in one place: you.

In this first episode, Reggie introduces the question this show is built around, and the framework he uses to answer it. Most families have done some of the planning. A will, life insurance, maybe a special needs trust. Very few have a system that keeps working when the people who built it can't run it anymore.

In this episode:
→ The Six P's of Lifetime Care Planning: Picture, Price, Protect, People, Preserve, and Practice
→ Why having documents isn't the same as having a plan
→ The Johnsons, a family who looks prepared on paper but is missing something that matters
→ The "second death," and why it's the real test of whether a plan works

Free Lifetime Care Plan workbook
Build your family's plan as you listen, one step at a time.
https://www.clearviewfw.com/free-workbook

Talk with Reggie
Book a 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/reggie-clearviewfw/30min

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. The Johnson family is a composite created for illustration.